We were deep in the cellar of a winery on the Croatian Riviera when our host, with a conspiratorial wink, dropped a line that’s been echoing in our minds ever since:
“Don’t do communism, kids.”
At first, we laughed—was she joking? But after crisscrossing wineries in Croatia, Hungary, and Slovenia, her words started to feel less like a punchline and more like a warning label.
Traveling through these regions is like uncorking a bottle from another era. The hills are heartbreakingly beautiful, terraced by centuries of labor. The grapes—Plavac Mali, Pošip, Furmint—are as ancient as the soil itself. Never heard of them? That’s not your fault. That’s history’s hangover.
The terroir is out of this world. The wines are bursting with character.
But the regions themselves are starting over after decades lost.
Why? Because communism didn’t just change governments—it rewrote the story of wine.
Back in the Iron Curtain days, winemaking wasn’t about artistry or passion. It was about quotas. Family vineyards were seized and mashed together into state-run collectives. The mission: pump out oceans of wine for the Soviet bloc, no thought to quality.
And as if that wasn’t enough, our Croatian host’s family had to flee their vineyard during the wars of the ‘90s, starting over from scratch on the Adriatic coast. She called the old Yugoslavia “Absurdistan”—and after hearing her stories, we understood why.
Thirty years after the fall of communism, family wineries are rebuilding, one vine at a time, and western markets are slowly waking up to their magic.
But don’t get us wrong—there’s brilliance here.
In Croatia, we tasted a Dingač with dark fruit and Vermouth-like herbal notes. In Slovenia, a Rebula that shimmered with bright minerality. These wines have soul—crafted by winemakers who refuse to let history define them.
That journey left us with more than just a suitcase full of Balkan reds. It left us grateful for the freedom to make wine the way we want at Holly’s Hill, having the luxury of chasing quality, not quotas.
Cheers to the winemakers of Eastern Europe:
Resilient and refusing to let the past dictate the future.
And here’s to our Croatian host’s advice:
“Don’t do communism, kids.”
– Josh
